May 10, 2009

Bidens is a genus in the daisy family Asteraceae. It contains about 200 species. The common names Bur marigolds or Tickseed sunflowers refer to the achene burrs on the seeds of this genus, most of which are barbed. The generic name refers the same fact; it means "two-tooth", from Latin Bis "two" + Dens "tooth". The plants are zoochorous; their seeds will stick to clothing, fur or feathers, and be carried to new habitat. This has enabled them to colonize a wide range, including many oceanic islands in South America. Bidens laevis is native from the southern half of the United States through Uruguay, where it grows in wetlands, including estuaries and riverbanks. This is an annual or perennial herb growing over 20 centimeters tall and sometimes much taller, exceeding one meter in height. The narrow lance-shaped leaves are 5 to 15 centimeters long, with finely toothed edges and pointed tips. The inflorescence bears one or more flower heads which bend down as they become heavy with fruit after flowering. Each head has a center of yellow disc florets and a fringe of 7 or 8 yellow ray florets each up to 3 centimeters long. The blooming period occurs from late summer to early fall and lasts about 1-2 months for a colony of plants. The root system is shallow and branches frequently. This plant often forms colonies and spreads by reseeding itself; sometimes the lower portion of a stem will form rootlets at the leaf nodes when it lies against moist soil.

Salvinia, the sole genus in the family Salviniaceae, is a kind of floating fern. The Salviniaceae are related to the other water ferns, including the Mosquito fern, Azolla. Salviniaceae are heterosporous, producing spores of differing sizes. They are small, floating aquatics with creeping stems, branched, bearing hairs but no true roots. The leaves are arranged in whorls of three, with two leaves sessile and floating, and one leaf petiolate, rootlike, and pendent. The Eared watermoss (Salvinia auriculata) is native to South America. It is a small free-floating plant that grows in clusters and develops into dense, floating mats or colonies in quiet water, undisturbed by wave action. The floating leaves of this plant are more or less round, 1,2 cm long with a distinct midrib along which the leaf may fold forming altogether an accordion-shape appearance. It can reproduce by spores or by fragmentation.

May 9, 2009

All longhorn beetles (or more archaically, longicorns) belong to the Cerambycidae family. They are characterized by extremely long antennae, which are often as long as or longer than the beetle's body. The family is large, with over 20,000 species described, slightly more than half from the Eastern Hemisphere. Several are regarded as serious pests, with the larvae boring into wood, where they can cause extensive damage to either living trees or untreated lumber (or, occasionally, to wood in buildings, being a particular problem indoors). A number of species mimic ants, bees, and wasps, though a majority of species are cryptically colored. Despite a vast literature on host relationships of cerambycid larvae and geographic ranges of species, there is scant information on the behavior of adults of many species because they are cryptic and nocturnal. Compsocerus violaceus occurs throughout Uruguay and is popularly known as "Guitarrero" (Guitar player) due to the chirping sound that it produces by rubbing one of its legs against the upper hind edge of the forewing, which has a thick scraper.

Why bilingual? For starters, Spanish is my native tongue. Secondly, English is still the universal language and the blog is meant to be accessible for anyone on the globe who is into Nature conservancy; particularly in getting to know Uruguay's flora and fauna.

"Hunting is merely a cowardly circumlocution for the cowardy murder of fellow creatures who do not have a chance. Hunting is a variant of human mental illness" Theodore Heuss (First president of the Republic of Germany; 1884-1963)

"When I was twelve, I went hunting with my father and we shot a bird. He was laying there and something struck me. Why do we call this fun to kill this creature who was as happy as I was when I woke up this morning?" (American and Canadian football coach, 1925-)

"May I walk unceasingly on the banks of my river, may my soul repose on the branches of the trees which I planted, and may I may refresh myself under the shadow of my sycamore tree".Egyptian tomb inscription, circa 1400 AD

"We must protect the forests for our children, grandchildren and children yet to be born. We must protect the forests for those who can't speak for themselves such as the birds, other animals and the trees."Chief Edward Moody, Qwatsinas, Nuxalk Nation

"No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if promontory were... Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls: it tolls for thee".John Donne, English Metaphysical poet (1572 - 1631)